2021 Channel tragedy: one man’s quest to know why rescuers let his brother die
On November 24th last year, an inflatable dinghy carrying at least 33 migrants across the Channel from France to England took on water and sank, leaving just two survivors. The bodies of 27 people were recovered, and at least four others were never found, including that of the 18-year-old brother of Zana Mamand Mohammad. He travelled to Paris from Iraq this month to meet with French investigators who have established that rescue services were repeatedly called for help, but failed to respond. “How could the French and English authorities have left children, women and men die at sea while for hours they had raised the alarm about their sinking?” he asked in an interview with Mediapart.
ZanaZana Mamand Mohammad, a policeman from the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, lost his teenage brother in the sinking in November last year of a boat carrying at least 33 migrants attempting to cross the Channel from France to England.
